Making science work for you: Getting the balance right, getting your career on track, letting women stay.

Dr Foley will look at how to have a successful science career while maintaining balance such as managing family. She will look at practical ways to help position your research efforts to have a successful career in a competitive profession. Dr Foley will then discuss what strategies can be used to prevent loss of human capital in science due to the loss of female participation. This will be approached from a personal perspective.

Dr. Cathy Foley is the Acting Chief of CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering. She has worked in Superconducting Devices and Applications Project which is developing superconducting systems for a variety of applications from electrode-less heart monitors to remote detection of contra band at airports.

Cathy has a world-class reputation in her field being a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in the UK, Immediate past President of the Australian Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ASTE) and the President of Federation of Australian Science and Technology Societies where she will represent 60,000 Australian scientists and technologists.

Dr. Foley is well known for her interests in physics, science education, women in science, science in the media (she was a regular weekly guest on ABC radio 2BL radio for 5 years) and nuclear disarmament. She has been recently involved in developing the passion for science within CSIRO and renewing what it is to be a scientist. Cathy was awarded a Public Service Medal on the 2003 Australia Day and won the 2003 Eureka Prize for the promotion of Science and the NSW and National winner of the Telstra Women’s Business Award for Innovation in 2009.